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Aboriginal breastplates (also called king plates or aboriginal gorgets) were a form of regalia used in pre-Federation Australia by white colonial authorities to recognise those they perceived to be local Aboriginal leaders. The breastplates were usually metallic crescent-shaped plaques worn around the neck by wearer. Aboriginal people did not traditionally have kings or chiefs. They lived in small clan groups with several elders—certain older men and women—who consulted with each other on decisions for the group. By appointing kings of tribes, and granting them king plates, the white colonial powers went against the more collegiate grain of traditional Aboriginal culture. In the 19th century, king plates were given by numerous communities in various Australian States to esteemed Aboriginal men and women, who were usually elders of their particular tribal or kinship group. The plates were presented to perceived 'chiefs', courageous men and to faithful servants.[1] There have been suggestions that the presentation of breastplates also had a great deal to do with whether or not the recipient was seen as useful or respected by the white Australian community of the area in question. While some Aboriginal people wore their breastplates with pride, others saw them as yet another insult to their culture from the white European settlers.[2] Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_breastplate

Lutheran involvement in the Cooktown area began in 1885 when missionary Johann Flierl stopped off at Cooktown on his way to New Guinea. He later received government permission to start a mission station. The original mission sites were at Elim and Cape Bedford. Elim became known as Hope Valley, and later Hope Vale. The Immanuel Lutheran Synod in South Australia supported work amongst the Gungu Yimidhirr people by sending missionaries C.A. Meyer, George Schwarz and Wilhelm Poland. At the outbreak of the Second World War the people, along with missionary Schwartz, were interned at Woorabinda, near Rockhampton, in Queensland. In just one month twenty eight people lost their lives with nearly a quarter of the people dying over the next eight years. In 1986 the community became the first to receive a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) and formed the Hope Vale Aboriginal Council. In 1997 a Native Title determination was made concerning the lands of the Hope Vale. Source: aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/MS...

The Guugu Yimithirr people like all Aborigines in Australia have been here for approximately 100,000 years. The Guugu Yimithirr first came to prominence in 1770 when they engaged with Captain James Cook and his crew on the good ship Endeavour. As is well known in history the Guugu Yimithirr hosted Captain Cook at present day Cooktown (Gungarr) for 7 weeks. During this time he not only had to repair the Endeavour he also met the Guugu Yimithirr people and engaged in dialogue along with Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson. They gathered a word list of the Guugu Yimithirr language and from this encounter the Guugu Yimithirr have been immortalised in the English language by giving the name to that giant hopping marsupial-Gangurru-Kangaroo. Hope Valley Mission was founded in January of 1886 by the Lutheran Missionary John Flierl. He was on his way to establish a mission in New Guinea but was held up in Cooktown and during the idle time he began work amongst the Guugu Yimithirr clans in Cooktown. He established himself as missionary on the Cape Bedford Aboriginal Reserve, choosing a spot on the bay north of Cape Bedford which he called Elim. Source: www.hopevale.qld.gov.au/history

Cockatoos are an important animal in the Australian Indigenous people’s mythology, acknowledged for their important part in the cycle of birth, death and rebirth of plants in the landscape. For the Indigenous people and more broadly, Cockatoos represent illumination – the sentinel guard and guide through darkness; they speak of commitment to partnerships and to the importance of the safety of one’s group; and they represent comedic relief with the spark that mischief and curiosity bring to life! Source: worldbirds.com/cockatoo-symbolism/

The 'nose bone ceremony' marks an Aboriginal boy's transition to manhood. The ritual begins with the painting of sacred symbols on the body, followed by piercing the septum. The nose is pierced with the bone of an animal or bird associated with a tribe's Dreaming and the ancestral creator of their sacred site. These nose bones were originally worn by both men and woman, today they are usually only worn by the older generation on ceremonial occasions. Source: www.aboriginalartuk.com/post/sacred-places-marrapinti#:~:....

Pearl shells were in use from at least 1818. In 1818 Freycinet records the following in Shark Bay, Western Australia. “An old man painted with stripes of various colors and distinguished from the rest by a shell hanging from his girdle”. They are an original and unique form of Aboriginal Art. Source: www.aboriginal-bark-paintings.com/aboriginal-pearl-shell/